叛兵 (pàn bīng) — mutinous soldiers, rebel troops

Definition

noun
mutinous soldiersrebel troops
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 叛兵。
    Yí duì pàn bīng tū rán xí jī le zhǐ huī suǒ.
    A squad of mutinous soldiers suddenly attacked the command post.
  • 叛兵。
    Jiāng jūn chéng gōng shuō fú le dà bù fen pàn bīng tóu xiáng.
    The general successfully persuaded most of the rebel troops to surrender.
  • 叛兵，。
    Chéng zhōng chū xiàn le pàn bīng, jú shì shí fēn jǐn zhāng.
    Mutinous soldiers appeared in the city, and the situation became very tense.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

叛pànrebel
兵bīngsoldier

叛 carries rebellion, and 兵 are the soldiers who mutiny.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
反反fǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
半
半bàn叛pàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

叛 pairs 反 as its meaning part with 半 as its sound part.

Open 叛 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 斤斤jīna short axe
  • 廾廾gǒng2 hands

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.

Open 兵 →

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